At Friend's restaurant in Phnom Penh, you can taste a burger made with insects. The experience is highly sought after by tourists of all ages who typically come to try swallowing the dish while taking photos for social media.

Silk worm cocoons, crickets, and a tarantula. These are the original ingredients that this restaurant offers in its vegetarian burger with mushroom and black bean patty. "We've been serving this dish for five months now," says Chea, the restaurant's floor manager. "Beyond the novelty that attracts many customers, the insects we serve bring real nutritional value, particularly in terms of protein." The restaurant sells an average of 10 of these burgers per day.

Echoes of the Familiar

These animals are uncommon to the palate. As you chew them, the mind seeks to relate their taste to more familiar foods. A way, perhaps, to reassure oneself in the face of this culinary surprise. The cocoons, very rough at first, then smoother and easily swallowable, are reminiscent of chickpeas in their texture. The taste resembles deep-sea snails. Fried to excess, the crickets recall appetizers and antipasti in concept. Their texture is similar to chips and they have a rather neutral, dull flavor—that of boiling oil. "The tarantula's legs and flesh remind you of chicken meat," Chea says with a smile.

Nutritional... and Medicinal Properties

The tarantula, the star ingredient of this composition, was not chosen by chance by the restaurant. They source it from hunters working in the areas around Kompong Cham and Kompong Thom. Its price per unit is 0.5 dollars. In Cambodge, the animal is renowned for its healing properties. "My grandparents used to eat the spider or place it in bottles of rice alcohol," Chea explains. "It helps restore your energy. After childbirth, some women feed on this animal to regain their strength."

These characteristics are primarily centered on the spider's gland. This part of the body, which one can scarcely imagine sliding down the throat, is not the most appetizing visually. But there is nothing harmful about it.

Thibault Bourru